Before the streaming wars began, or YouTube and Vine gave rise to social media as we know it, there was a different, albeit surprising, force dominating pop culture: basic cable. On Basic!, go behind the scenes of a glorious time in pop culture, when shows like MTV’s The Real World, ESPN’s SportsCenter and AMC’s Breaking Bad made basic cable a must-have for every American home. With the help of guests like Jimmy Kimmel, Cindy Crawford and Amy Schumer, hosts Doug Herzog (former network executive at MTV, Comedy Central, Fox) and tv critic Jen Chaney (New York Magazine/Vulture) will take you through an oral history of basic cable television—stretching all the way from the dawn of MTV to the small screen’s Mad Menobsession.

Basic! is out now! Listen on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favourite podcasts.

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